Big bats return for Tigers in game one victory over Vandy

The LSU bats pounded out a season-high five home runs and snapped a three-game losing Southeastern Conference streak with a 13-2 victory on the road against Vanderbilt Thursday night in Nashville.

With the victory, LSU improves to 35-18 overall and 15-13 in league play. The Commodores dropped to 35-17 and 14-14 in SEC action. The two teams will battle Friday night in the second game of the series beginning at 6 p.m.

After stranding the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the first inning, the Tiger bats exploded for six runs in the second.

Shortstop Jordan Thompson got things going with a solo homerun and Collier Cranford made it a 2-0 game with an RBI single.

With Cranford and catcher Tyler McManus on base, Dylan Crews smacked his team-leading 18th home run of the year to blow the game open at 5-0. However, the LSU offense wasn’t done in the second as Thompson came up again in the inning and scored Jacob Berry via an RBI single.

Crews had another massive game at the plate for the Tigers, finishing 4 for 4 with three runs driven in, falling only a triple short of the cycle.

The power output continued in the fourth inning thanks to a two-run shot by Cade Doughty and Brayden Jobert got in on the home run fun with a solo shot in the seventh.

Doughty added his second home run in the ninth, the 100th of the season for the Tigers as a team, a solo shot.

Ma’Khail Hilliard picked up the win on the mound for LSU, allowing one earned run on eight hits and striking out four in 5.1 innings of work.